First images show aftermath of NASA's DART asteroid collision mission
Leah Crane - 10h ago New Scientist
NASA has smashed a spacecraft into an asteroid, and a small satellite watched the whole thing happen. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) crashed into the 160-metre-wide moonlet Dimorphos on 26 September. Now, the Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube) has sent back images of the collision from up close.
DART’s goal in smashing into Dimorphos, which orbits a larger asteroid called Didymos, was to change its orbit in a test of how we might be able to deflect an asteroid heading towards Earth. While the spacecraft documented its approach to the asteroid, it was destroyed in the actual collision.
Related video: NASA’s DART Mission Expected to Hit Target Asteroid Today
View on Watch
That is where LICIACube comes in. DART carried the 14-kilogram satellite in a spring-loaded box and then ejected it on 11 September so it could fly past Dimorphos at a safe distance after the collision. This was key to both figuring out how the collision affected the asteroid itself and determining whether its orbit was changed.
The first images from LICIACube show huge plumes of debris erupting out of Dimorphos after the collision. These pictures have not been analysed by scientists yet, but eventually they will reveal information about the asteroid’s interior and how much of it was destroyed in the smash-up.
"Now the science can start," said Katarina Miljkovic at Curtin University in Australia, in a statement. "We needed a large-scale experiment... This is to ensure that, should Earth ever encounter a dangerous asteroid hurling towards us, we would know what to do."
It will take at least a few days to observe and calculate how Dimorphos’s orbit around Didymos has changed. That will depend in large part on the asteroid’s internal strength and whether its surface crumbled on collision or stood up to the crash. It’s like hitting something with a baseball bat – if the object is a rock and doesn't crumble, it will go further than a piece of fruit that breaks up into many pieces. This information will help determine how future missions to protect Earth from any potentially dangerous asteroids should be designed.
Leah Crane - 10h ago New Scientist
Plumes of debris erupting out of the asteroid Dimorphos ASI Italian Space Agency
NASA has smashed a spacecraft into an asteroid, and a small satellite watched the whole thing happen. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) crashed into the 160-metre-wide moonlet Dimorphos on 26 September. Now, the Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids (LICIACube) has sent back images of the collision from up close.
DART’s goal in smashing into Dimorphos, which orbits a larger asteroid called Didymos, was to change its orbit in a test of how we might be able to deflect an asteroid heading towards Earth. While the spacecraft documented its approach to the asteroid, it was destroyed in the actual collision.
Related video: NASA’s DART Mission Expected to Hit Target Asteroid Today
View on Watch
That is where LICIACube comes in. DART carried the 14-kilogram satellite in a spring-loaded box and then ejected it on 11 September so it could fly past Dimorphos at a safe distance after the collision. This was key to both figuring out how the collision affected the asteroid itself and determining whether its orbit was changed.
The first images from LICIACube show huge plumes of debris erupting out of Dimorphos after the collision. These pictures have not been analysed by scientists yet, but eventually they will reveal information about the asteroid’s interior and how much of it was destroyed in the smash-up.
"Now the science can start," said Katarina Miljkovic at Curtin University in Australia, in a statement. "We needed a large-scale experiment... This is to ensure that, should Earth ever encounter a dangerous asteroid hurling towards us, we would know what to do."
It will take at least a few days to observe and calculate how Dimorphos’s orbit around Didymos has changed. That will depend in large part on the asteroid’s internal strength and whether its surface crumbled on collision or stood up to the crash. It’s like hitting something with a baseball bat – if the object is a rock and doesn't crumble, it will go further than a piece of fruit that breaks up into many pieces. This information will help determine how future missions to protect Earth from any potentially dangerous asteroids should be designed.
Tereza Pultarova - SPACE.COM
Astronomers watched in awe as binary asteroid Didymos brightened up immediately after the impact of NASA's DART spacecraft on Monday (Sept. 26).
A sequence of images showing the brightening of asteroid Didymos immediately after the impact of NASA's DART spacecraft.© Virtual Telescope Project/Klein Karoo Observatory
Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi couldn't contain his excitement at the sight as he shared the observations in a livestream via the Virtual Telescope project. A small, dim dot that marked the Didymos-Dimorphos binary asteroid, at that time some 7 million miles (11 million kilometers) from Earth, began rapidly brightening and within minutes outshined even the brightest of stars in that tiny section of the sky.
"This is exceeding my expectations a lot," Masi said in the stream. "The object is now nearly 3 magnitudes brighter than earlier, this is tens of times more!"
Related: Asteroid impact: Here's the last thing NASA's DART spacecraft saw before it crashed
Since Italy was outside of the region with a direct view of Didymos at the time of the collision, Masi viewed the asteroid via a 12-inch (30 centimeters) telescope at South Africa's Klein Karoo Observatory in a feed shared by amateur astronomer Berto Monard.
Related video: NASA scientists celebrate as DART makes impact with Asteroid Dimorphos
Duration 0:48 View on Watch
The two astronomers watched in awe as Didymos not only brightened up, but also grew in size and changed shape as the cloud of debris stirred by DART's impact quickly spread in the surrounding space.
"Soon after the impact, an amount of dust was released like a plume and now this cloud of dust is expanding, sending back light from the sun," Monard explained in the stream. "This is much more than what I could expect. Even the shape is a bit different. It's like a comet. There are particles that are moving away from the asteroid and that's why you have a bigger halo of light."
Masi added that the only other time astronomers could observe such a human-made brightening of a celestial object was in 2005 when NASA's Deep Impact probe intentionally collided with Comet Tempel 1. The goal of that mission, however, wasn't to change the comet's trajectory but to extract some material from its surface to enable scientists to learn more about the composition of these ice balls.
"At that time, I could record a brightness increase, but I have to say that this is by far much more dramatic," Masi commented on his observations of Deep Impact's encounter with the comet.
Telescopes all over the world are currently aiming at the Didymos binary asteroid hoping to learn all they can about the cloud of debris stirred by DART's impact and about the effects the collision had on the orbit of the 560-foot-wide (170 meters) moonlet Dimorphos around the 2,560-foot-wide (780 m) main asteroid Didymos. Altering Dimorphos' orbit around Didymos by at least 73 seconds was the primary purpose of the DART mission.
If last night's impact was successful, the DART experiment could lead to technology that humankind might need one day to protect itself from a space rock on a collision course with Earth.
Follow Tereza Pultarova on Twitter @TerezaPultarova. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Wow! Telescopes spot DART asteroid impact in deep space (videos)
Mike Wall -SPACE.COM
Telescopes here on Earth captured the DART asteroid probe's spectacular deep-space death.
The last photo Earth received from the DART spacecraft on Sept. 26, 2022.© NASA/JHUAPL
DART slammed into Dimorphos, a moonlet of the larger asteroid Didymos, as planned on Monday evening (Sept. 26), giving up its robotic life in the name of planetary defense. The dramatic impact occurred 7 million miles (11 million kilometers) from Earth, but some sharp-eyed scopes on our planet managed to spot it.
Observations by the Hawaii-based Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), for example, show the Didymos system brightening considerably at the moment of impact. And just afterward, a massive shell of ejected material blasts away from the battered Dimorphos.
Related: NASA's DART asteroid-impact mission explained in pictures
One of Las Cumbres Observatory's (LCO) 3.3-foot (1 meter) telescopes at the South African Astronomical Observatory told a similar story, through from a different angle; DART hits Dimorphos while moving from left to right in the frame, rather than from right to left as in the ATLAS shots.
The ATLAS project posted its observations on Twitter late Monday night, as did a member of the LCO team. Both time-lapse videos are well worth a few moments of your time.
The 560-foot-wide (170 meters) Dimorphos poses no danger to Earth, and neither does Didymos, which is about 2,560 feet (780 m) across. NASA just used the space-rock system for target practice, to test out the "kinetic impact" strategy of asteroid deflection.
Scientists will now use a variety of telescopes to measure how much the impact changed Dimorphos' orbit around Didymos. Such data will teach them about the effectiveness of the kinetic impact technique, aiding future efforts to nudge dangerous space rocks away from Earth. And we will need to deal with a big incoming asteroid at some point, experts stress; it's a matter of when, not if.
The DART ("Double Asteroid Redirection Test") postmortem is just now getting underway. Many more ground-based telescopes around the world will soon start eyeing the Didymos system. And in the next couple of days, we should get some post-impact shots of Dimorphos from LICIACube, a tiny Italian cubesat that DART deployed on Sept. 11.
The up-close work won't stop there. The European Space Agency plans to launch a probe called Hera to the Didymos system in 2024. After arriving in 2026, Hera will stick around for a while, gathering a variety of data about both asteroids.
Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook.
Mike Wall -SPACE.COM
Telescopes here on Earth captured the DART asteroid probe's spectacular deep-space death.
The last photo Earth received from the DART spacecraft on Sept. 26, 2022.© NASA/JHUAPL
DART slammed into Dimorphos, a moonlet of the larger asteroid Didymos, as planned on Monday evening (Sept. 26), giving up its robotic life in the name of planetary defense. The dramatic impact occurred 7 million miles (11 million kilometers) from Earth, but some sharp-eyed scopes on our planet managed to spot it.
Observations by the Hawaii-based Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS), for example, show the Didymos system brightening considerably at the moment of impact. And just afterward, a massive shell of ejected material blasts away from the battered Dimorphos.
Related: NASA's DART asteroid-impact mission explained in pictures
One of Las Cumbres Observatory's (LCO) 3.3-foot (1 meter) telescopes at the South African Astronomical Observatory told a similar story, through from a different angle; DART hits Dimorphos while moving from left to right in the frame, rather than from right to left as in the ATLAS shots.
The ATLAS project posted its observations on Twitter late Monday night, as did a member of the LCO team. Both time-lapse videos are well worth a few moments of your time.
The 560-foot-wide (170 meters) Dimorphos poses no danger to Earth, and neither does Didymos, which is about 2,560 feet (780 m) across. NASA just used the space-rock system for target practice, to test out the "kinetic impact" strategy of asteroid deflection.
Scientists will now use a variety of telescopes to measure how much the impact changed Dimorphos' orbit around Didymos. Such data will teach them about the effectiveness of the kinetic impact technique, aiding future efforts to nudge dangerous space rocks away from Earth. And we will need to deal with a big incoming asteroid at some point, experts stress; it's a matter of when, not if.
The DART ("Double Asteroid Redirection Test") postmortem is just now getting underway. Many more ground-based telescopes around the world will soon start eyeing the Didymos system. And in the next couple of days, we should get some post-impact shots of Dimorphos from LICIACube, a tiny Italian cubesat that DART deployed on Sept. 11.
The up-close work won't stop there. The European Space Agency plans to launch a probe called Hera to the Didymos system in 2024. After arriving in 2026, Hera will stick around for a while, gathering a variety of data about both asteroids.
Mike Wall is the author of "Out There" (Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or on Facebook.
NASA Video Sparks Fears We May Have Encountered The Borg
Nathan Kamal - 10h ago
The recent NASA DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) Mission to collide a spacecraft with an asteroid was a complete success, especially as they meant to do that, on purpose. However, a video of the NASA mission in action has prompted some online speculation that our species may have encountered the Borg from Star Trek, which is not good news for our biological and cultural distinctiveness. As you can see above, if you look closely at the asteroid Dimorphos (technically a satellite of the larger asteroid Didymos), you can see a distinctly straight edge near its bottom, which makes people worried about space cyborgs.
NASA Video Sparks Fears We May Have Encountered The Borg
Nathan Kamal - 10h ago
The recent NASA DART (Double Asteroid Redirection Test) Mission to collide a spacecraft with an asteroid was a complete success, especially as they meant to do that, on purpose. However, a video of the NASA mission in action has prompted some online speculation that our species may have encountered the Borg from Star Trek, which is not good news for our biological and cultural distinctiveness. As you can see above, if you look closely at the asteroid Dimorphos (technically a satellite of the larger asteroid Didymos), you can see a distinctly straight edge near its bottom, which makes people worried about space cyborgs.
NASA Video Sparks Fears We May Have Encountered The Borg
© Provided by Giant Freakin Robot
To be clear, it seems that wags online are having a bit of fun with the NASA video, likening a close-up shot of the asteroid's gray, rocky surface to the gray, mechanical surface of a Borg Cube. Hopefully, no one is actually thinking that we are meeting the iconic Star Trek villain species with this particular space mission, which is intended to test whether a spacecraft can deflect incoming space rocks by impacting them with their kinetic energy (known as the Billiard Ball Effect). The DART mission has so far been successful, colliding with Dimorphos precisely as planned.
It is unlikely that NASA has acted in the role of a member of the Q Continuum as introduced us to the Borg, because as everyone knows, humanity does not contact the Borg until the year 2365 (Stardate 42761.3). At this point in history and NASA exploration, the Borg are in the Delta Quadrant, safely thousands of light-years from Earth, so it would beggar belief for them to be showing up anytime soon. Also, the Borg are fictional.
However, it is always nice for NASA fans to be able to have a little fun by imagining encounters with dangerous and implacable alien species that indomitably seek to assimilate everything they come across in search of perfection, like the Borg. After all, expectations are higher for NASA than they have been in some time, with their budget increased to its highest level in years and being under Presidential order to land a manned spacecraft on Mars sometime soon. Combined with competition from private aerospace companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin (despite their general lack of non-blowing up), NASA has a lot on its plate right now.
NASA Video Sparks Fears We May Have Encountered The Borg
To be clear, it seems that wags online are having a bit of fun with the NASA video, likening a close-up shot of the asteroid's gray, rocky surface to the gray, mechanical surface of a Borg Cube. Hopefully, no one is actually thinking that we are meeting the iconic Star Trek villain species with this particular space mission, which is intended to test whether a spacecraft can deflect incoming space rocks by impacting them with their kinetic energy (known as the Billiard Ball Effect). The DART mission has so far been successful, colliding with Dimorphos precisely as planned.
It is unlikely that NASA has acted in the role of a member of the Q Continuum as introduced us to the Borg, because as everyone knows, humanity does not contact the Borg until the year 2365 (Stardate 42761.3). At this point in history and NASA exploration, the Borg are in the Delta Quadrant, safely thousands of light-years from Earth, so it would beggar belief for them to be showing up anytime soon. Also, the Borg are fictional.
However, it is always nice for NASA fans to be able to have a little fun by imagining encounters with dangerous and implacable alien species that indomitably seek to assimilate everything they come across in search of perfection, like the Borg. After all, expectations are higher for NASA than they have been in some time, with their budget increased to its highest level in years and being under Presidential order to land a manned spacecraft on Mars sometime soon. Combined with competition from private aerospace companies like Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin (despite their general lack of non-blowing up), NASA has a lot on its plate right now.
NASA Video Sparks Fears We May Have Encountered The Borg
© Provided by Giant Freakin Robot
Also like NASA, the Borg have recently had a resurgence in public interest. While they have never completely disappeared from the franchise, the species was brought back as a villain in the recent Star Trek: Picard series, starring Patrick Stewart in his final turn as the title character and Jeri Ryan reprising the role of Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager. We recently reported that the latter is soon to be receiving her own solo series, which will almost certainly involve more of the Borg.
At least for now, it is safe to assume that humanity is safe from extraterrestrial technological intelligence coming to dismantle our society. Despite the NASA photos, we're probably going to invent our own artificial intelligence to utterly destroy us.
The post NASA Video Sparks Fears We May Have Encountered The Borg appeared first on GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT.
Also like NASA, the Borg have recently had a resurgence in public interest. While they have never completely disappeared from the franchise, the species was brought back as a villain in the recent Star Trek: Picard series, starring Patrick Stewart in his final turn as the title character and Jeri Ryan reprising the role of Seven of Nine from Star Trek: Voyager. We recently reported that the latter is soon to be receiving her own solo series, which will almost certainly involve more of the Borg.
At least for now, it is safe to assume that humanity is safe from extraterrestrial technological intelligence coming to dismantle our society. Despite the NASA photos, we're probably going to invent our own artificial intelligence to utterly destroy us.
The post NASA Video Sparks Fears We May Have Encountered The Borg appeared first on GIANT FREAKIN ROBOT.
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